SUNFLOWERS AND BLACKBERRIES

BOUQUET OF SUNFLOWERS

...AND TWO QUARTS OF BLACKBERRIES

Friday, 8:30 AM.  53 degrees F at the ferry dock, 49 on the back porch.  Wind NW, mostly calm with very light gusts.  The sky is sunny, the humidity 86%, the barometer 30.38" and rising, predicting a sunny, warmer weekend.  It is a beautiful day, with no clouds on the radar and with hints of fall in the air and visually.
   Joan had to have a tooth pulled yesterday, which became an almost-all-day affair.  I had two teeth pulled a week ago.  It may be catching.  As Red Fox, the comedian from Sanford and Son used to say, "I'm doing alright.  I've got most of my hair and some of my teeth."
   Anyway, I brightened her day with a bouquet of enormous sun flowers from the Washburn farmers market, the first I have seen locally this cold, damp summer.
  Late in the afternoon I drove out to the Larson camp and picked blackberries, which in their absence had been left for the birds and bears.  There were turkey feathers among fallen apples, and the deer have been bedding down nearby, 
   I picked about two quarts, more than enough for ice cream topping or a pie, if we are so inclined.  They are not nearly so good as other years...they appear ripe but are not very sweet.  There has not been enough sunlight for them to ripen properly, I am afraid.
  I did manage to get by without any major loss of blood; I usually end up looking like I have gotten into an altercation with a wildcat.  As I have said before, blackberry picking is a blood sport.